Chapter 375 The Sun Never Sets on the Sinking of the Empire 2
Chapter 375 The Sinking of the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets 2
The return of the Dönitz submarine formation is a signal that Germany's offensive in the English Channel is about to escalate.
Wu Aihua's trip to Germany sent 10 battleships, 10 light aircraft carriers, and 2,000 combat aircraft (ordered twice) to Germany. Not only did Germany strengthen its navy and air force, but more importantly, it won at least two
Months of preparation time.
After acquiring these battleships and aircraft, the Germans quickly formed new troops and quickly became familiar with the new equipment. At the same time, the German high command was also formulating the "Sunset Plan" to occupy the British mainland at once.
According to this plan, the German landing operation in the UK will be divided into Portsmouth, Bristol Bay and the Newcastle coast.
In the direction of Portsmouth, Germany concentrated all its offshore fleet, French fishing boats, 1,000 German-made aircraft, and 5 light infantry divisions as an attack force.
In the direction of Bristol Bay, the Italian Navy, German U-boat formation, 3 light infantry divisions and the same 1,000 German self-produced aircraft served as the main attack force.
In fact, after Germany occupied the European continent, the British built a large core defense circle with London as the center, with urban London as the final defense circle, and about 40 kilometers of the suburbs as the intermediate defense circle, while the entire English Channel was
The Fore Strait and the coast south of Norwich are the third-level defense circle. Within this defense circle, which is hundreds of kilometers thick and 800 kilometers long, 65% of the British army and 70% of the air force are concentrated.
As well as the entire British Home Fleet, there are nearly 100,000 cannons and more than 8,000 permanent fortifications distributed along the coast, islands, ports and suburbs.
Bristol Bay is also within the UK's core defense circle.
In order to prevent Germany from suffering too much losses, the Chinese National Defense Forces Observation (Staff) Group in Germany recommended that Germany use the 100 kilometers of frontal width along the coast of Newcastle as the key attack direction for this landing operation and strive to succeed in one fell swoop.
The German staff opposed this plan. They believed that Newcastle was far away from the core area of London, and even if the landing was successful, it would not be able to annihilate the main British military force.
"Excuse me, are the Germans willing to fight the British on land, or at sea?" the Chinese National Defense Forces Observer Group asked.
"In terms of strategy, this is called detour, also called attacking east and west, and also called surprise. The British believe that even if the Germans occupy other places except the core defense circle, Britain will still have the power to resist. Their idea is wrong
.Imagine that the enemy has entered the territory of the country. Will the morale and morale of the army not be affected? Just imagine that in the villages around Newcastle, the Germans have concentrated several armored groups and also own the airport. How can the British fight this battle?
?”
The Wehrmacht staff's rhetorical questions were so powerful that the Germans finally had to agree to this plan.
Germans, and even Europeans, are very direct in their military thinking. All famous battles in European history used strong military power to crush the opponent, and absolute supremacy of strength. This is a lesson taught to them by the Chinese staff
, which is equivalent to opening the door to their thinking.
In the past, if Germany had this kind of thinking of "avoiding reality and attacking fictitiousness", it might have occupied the British mainland long ago, but it is a pity that they did not have this kind of thinking; of course, the German navy was also relatively weak at that time. If this kind of evasion of reality was
If the strategy of attacking the void is detected by the British, it may also fall into the British encirclement and lead to failure.
When the Germans obtained a series of equipment such as Chinese battleships, the German air force and navy were already ahead of the British. At this time, what were they worried about? If the strategy of "avoiding the truth and attacking the fictitious" was adopted at this time, even if the British knew about it,
There is only a blank stare. Because Britain is a small island and can be landed from all directions. When the navy is weaker than others, the island is destined to be undefendable.
When the British learned that Dönitz's submarine fleet had returned to the German mainland and the strength of the submarine fleet, the British also knew that the German general attack was coming. Therefore, they quickly mobilized the main forces of the British Atlantic Fleet and the Mediterranean Fleet to protect the British mainland.
.
However, by doing so, the British fell into the trap set by the Germans. Dönitz's submarine fleet was indeed 70 submarines, but how could Dönitz send all the submarines back to the German mainland? At this time, North Africa
This is Germany's territory.
As early as when they were drinking beer in the Indian Ocean, Wu Aihua and Dönitz discussed the tactics of luring and annihilating the British Mediterranean Fleet. If the British Mediterranean Fleet was to be annihilated with a pure submarine formation, the best place would be the Strait of Gibraltar. There were loudspeakers on the left and right.
The narrowest point in the middle is only 10 nautical miles, making it a natural battlefield for annihilating enemies. The German submarine struck away. Outside was the vast Atlantic Ocean, and inside was the equally vast Mediterranean Sea. The British had nothing to do with the submarine. The only thing
The danger may be that the British have obtained accurate information about the submarine attack. Otherwise, the submarine will surely make a great contribution.
Therefore, when arriving at the coast of North Africa, Dönitz left Colonel Karl Tonide behind, and also left him 20 "Youlong 1" submarines.
On the afternoon of March 7, 1941, the main force of the British Mediterranean Fleet, 2 aircraft carriers, 2 battleships and more than 30 other warships, set off from the Malta base and began to return to the UK.
In the early morning of the next day, the Mediterranean Fleet quietly passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, and the German submarine detachment commanded by Colonel Carl Tonide, who had been lurking outside the strait for a long time, quickly pounced on it.
However, the British were smarter this time. The destroyers were in front to clear the way, and the destroyers were in the rear. On the left and right, there were frigates escorting them, protecting several large British ships of 10,000 tons and above very tightly.
Upon seeing this situation, Carl Tonide immediately held a short meeting with his assistants and proposed two plans: one is to pounce on and take a few bites, regardless of how many big and small ships are sunk; the other is to
One is to send a suicide squad to lurk in the middle of the strait, and when the British ships are in place, directly attack the British aircraft carriers or battleships. However, in this case, the submarine responsible for the attack is most likely to be in trouble.
"Colonel, what do you think about it?" an assistant asked.
"I'm going to lurk under the waterway." Karl Tonide said casually. Karl Tonide was not showing off, but coming from his true mentality. Among the German generals in World War II, there were almost no people who were afraid of death. As long as they could destroy Germany
The enemy, why fear death!
"Let's go too." When the assistants saw that the chief had made a choice, how could they be afraid of death and attack those small fish? If they wanted to catch them, they had to catch the biggest fish.
In this way, Karl Tonide's submarine fleet transformed from a raiding fleet into a death-defying fleet, and their heroic spirit will forever shine in the skies of Germany.
At 4 o'clock in the morning on the 8th, British frigates began to poke their heads out of the strait. Perhaps they were afraid of attacks by German submarines. From time to time, these frigates fired a shot at the sea or dropped a depth charge. However, Karl.
Tony De and others were not moved by this.
At 5 o'clock in the morning, the main force of the British fleet began to appear within the attack range of the submarine.
"All come up and attack with all our strength!" Carl Tonide adopted an extremely bold tactic, which was to float to the shallow water and launch torpedoes at close range.
For Admiral Brown Cunningham, the commander of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, he has not returned to London, England for some time. Originally, when the fleet returned to the British mainland, he could have taken a plane escorted by the Royal Air Force formation to return to London.
, however, he changed his mind before departure and decided to return to the UK on his flagship battleship Barham.
HMS Barham, one of the "Queen Elizabeth-class" battleships, was built by John Brown Shipyard in 1913. It participated in the famous Battle of Jutland in 1916. At the beginning of World War II, HMS Barham was used
Incorporated into service in the Mediterranean Fleet, in parallel time and space, the battleship Barham would be sunk in the Mediterranean by three German U-type submarines on November 25, 1941.
Perhaps, because of the emergence of Chinese submarines, the history of the Barham will also be rewritten.
Last night, the fleet sailed on the Mediterranean Sea, and Admiral Cunningham slept peacefully; at this time, dawn had already appeared on the sea, and Cunningham came to the deck early to breathe the fresh air of the Mediterranean Sea.
"Good morning, General!" a soldier passed by and greeted.
"Good morning, Private." Cunningham looked at the lighthouses on both sides of Gibraltar and replied easily.
"Good morning, General. This is the latest military information from Marshal Rogers Pond." Cunningham's assistant, Fleet Chief of Staff Rear Admiral Robert Norman, walked up to the deck and handed several documents to Cunningham.
"The base camp suspects that a German submarine is going to ambush us?" The document placed at the top is an intelligence analysis from the Navy Department, saying that at least 20 submarines purchased by Germany from China have not returned to Germany.
Cunningham's Mediterranean fleet takes care on the road.
"General, we'd better be careful." Robert Norman also knew that this time the fleet sailed in such a formation, it would be difficult for the Germans to attack the main force of the fleet.
"Let the outer ships be on alert!" Cunningham said. This was a routine move for him because he had never heard of a German submarine daring to attack such a powerful fleet in broad daylight.
Cunningham was right. In the past, German submarines mostly attacked lone British warships, small fleets, or fleets parked in ports. He had never seen a German submarine dare to attack such a large battleship formation. Of course,
Although the transport fleet is huge, it is not included in this category. Because the total firepower of the transport fleet may not even be comparable to that of a light cruiser.
"Boom -" As if he was mocking Admiral Cunningham, before he could finish his words, a huge explosion came from a battleship behind him.
"What's going on?" Cunningham asked aloud, because from where he stood, he couldn't see the ships behind him.
"Boom -" Suddenly, a huge explosion sounded from a battleship in front of him.
"General, it's a German submarine!" Robert Norman saw a large amount of water suddenly splashing on the side of the aircraft carrier ahead, and judging from the sound of the explosion, it should also be a torpedo attack.